GTAm

If it isn't sorted out with The Don's and VVTi's recommendations, check for an air leak inlet or exhaust system. I have had similar issues with one of my previous Alfa 156s. Once it was from the exhaust manifold gasket and once the exhaust manifold had a tiny crack in between two branches. When the temp went up the gap would widen due to expansion of metals and voila!

My view is that a Maruti 800 (or similar) is very unsafe to run our Expressway. It may look unfair to exclude or discriminate low priced cars but it's a matter of safety. I have often seen Marutis veering across on the Expressways, sometimes encroaching the other lane and the drivers sometimes oblivious to this. It's visible that it's hard to keep the car planted. No doubt crosswinds and whether would affect this but I'm sure the design brief of a Maruti 800 or such never included cruising at 100km/h on expressways that are regularly prone to strong cross winds and heavy rain. Perhaps if the highways were wider, better surfaced and the limit was lower they might be safer for such cars. I have been on Indian highways......and what can I say.....you would often struggle to figure out if it's a highway or a regular road. Most vehicles seem to be casually ambling along. In fact I distinctly recall in Delhi just AFTER we entered the Toll-way there were vehicles entering from the left side in the opposite direction and doing a U-Turn. Our driver suddenly slowed down on the highway to talk to the person in the next vehicle to ask for directions! That's how chaotic India is. Anything goes. True what The Don says about our expressway discipline though. It's been mostly quite good whenever I've been on it. Such a contrast to driving on regular roads. However as a whole the safety situation is pretty alarming. I'm sure most of us read the newspaper reports of last week. Where it was reported that 81 Sri Lankans died because of road accidents just during the Avurudu week. That's one hell of a number for just 10 days! Of course it's been a combination of many things. Including drunk driving despite 1800 drunk drivers being arrested! Anyway getting back to topic...what we need is a minimum safety standard for vehicles imported and lower duties for them to be accessible. Won't happen though

I didn't

If you can get it at a discount because of the 325 number it might be worth it. You never know, but laws may change someday. I wonder if there is an alternative where one could change a 325 number to E-series just like some current 19-/300- car owners seem to be doing? English letters might make the Landie "look" better than325-.

Exactly my fear. I think the CEA or some government body needs to get involved here.

A bit OT but does anyone know how used batteries off these hybrids are disposed of in SL?

So much for legendary Toyota reliability and bullet proof engineering. I hope TL will act promptly and take immediate action. It's really bad when they avoid or delay fixing the problem. (GM at the moment anyone??) I feel that even if most Prius' are grey imports since TL is owned by the parent company that they have to take responsibility. However who knows in SL getting away with anything is possible. Could this affect SL's balance of payments I mean without 27km/l cars on our roads our import bill is bound to skyrocket

Correct. My mistake.

Ah.....the model that I had in mind is this - http://hot-hatch.blogspot.com/2010/01/daihatsu-charade-de-tomaso-turbo-84.html

Never knew there was a 1.6!?. Always thought 1.3 max.

I've heard a rumour that recently this car was souped up recently with an expense of 30M bucks! So petrol prices may go up even more than we expect

Wow sounds like quite a car. Why don't you try to trace it? It's sure a highly sort after machine which has yet to get proper recognition. I recall how they dominated the Sri Lankan racing scene in their class back when they were current. There was very fast white De Tomaso which was very dominant. Can't remember the drivers name.

There were a few Crosswind. I guess selling them in countries like Italy and France in those days there would have been some demand for manuals and also there must have been British buyers too. Remember that these were the most thirsty cars of their era so a slushbox only makes them worse.

JC the Charade was a front runner in my Classic Itch article the Mag. It has excellent race history in SL and yes the De Tomaso would be particularly interesting and they were all fun to drive with their buzzing 3 pots.

Car - Alfa Romeo Giulietta Engine - 2.0 JTDm2 Diesel Turbo 170bhp. Gearbox - TCT 6speed (Twin Clutch Automated Manual) YoM - 2012 Km/L - 10.5 in Colombo mostly in traffic. Highway - never really checked but feels like a lot. Maybe in the region of 14 or 15 is my guesstimate. And my previous, Car - Alfa Romeo 159 Engine - 2.2JTS Petrol 185bhp. Gearbox - Manual 6 speed YoM - 2007 Km/L - 7-7.5 in City traffic. 9-11 on long trips depending on where. I'm enjoying the huge saving on my fuel bill.

No. It is required.

Yes 10% of CIF I am told.

A Doctor pal of mine called over the weekend. His wife (also a doc) has got a Fiesta. It has never run properly. The major problem seems to be with the gearbox or its electronics. It's always in low gears and so the engine is revving its nuts off, consequently giving disastrous fuel consumption. As it's still under warranty they've been platinum members at the agents. And they've tried a lot of stuff including a complete transmission replacement which has still not cured the problem. And that's not all he said there were other smaller issues that we done under warranty. The latest being a crack in the exhaust manifold (The car has done 17k kms). Lots of their other colleagues who also have Fiestas (and he mentioned the Ranger too) have been suffering from a myriad of quality problems. And none of them are satisfied with the agents rather cold approach to them. I should be meeting him in person this week and will get more info. Looks like it's the Thai origin vehicles....

I would avoid the Ford Ranger. A Ford owning friend called me over the weekend and gave me a list of horror stories on various Fords including his wife's Fiesta and the agent's inability to solve the issues. He mentioned the Ranger too. L200 parts are said to be pricey according to a friend who owned one very recently. The Navara is probably the safe bet. Maybe some owners will respond shortly.....

Go for it. I am using P6000 (made in Hungary) on one of my cars and it is proving to be excellent so far in terms of grip and wear. I had Indonesian Bridgestones before on this same car and they wore off like an eraser and did not offer much grip either. Completely different from the Japanese Bridgestone Potenzas which were very good on a different car I had. But they were expensive. As for Dunlops I have used both the Thai made Japanese made ones and cannot rate either well. The price was attractive but grip was average and wear was really bad on both, a lot worse on the Thai built ones. Other brands that I can recommend confidently are Kumho (as good as the Yokohamas they replaced but cheaper) and Avon. Both offer good value for their ratings imo and under cut the "premium" brands. The Michelin high performance tyres are excellent (probably the best I have experienced) but very pricey. When I bought the Avons it was double that price!!! The Michelin "Energy" tyre does not do it for me with low grip.

Nice except for the grille. Looks a bit too bulky for a small car me thinks. Rear end looks fab.

The Duologic gearbox is a manual. Not an automatic. It is a single clutch automated manual gearbox just like the early Ferrari F1 shift boxes and the Alfa Romeo Selespeed boxes. It does not have a torque converter but a clutch kit. So it is completely different from a regular automatic.

The Linea actually rides much better than the G.Punto on our roads. Being manual only, killed any hope of success.

That's almost always the case. Very very normal. Don't let it bother you too much. The important thing is it's getting done correctly now.

Yes I was glad to see progress. Wish he had refered the pics I have him though. He had made the wheel arch like a Giulia based on what the previous tinker had done.